


Still Moments

by grandaddy-latin (espressorobotics)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, This is the AU where everything is happy and nothing is bad no sir no trouble here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-24 00:58:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15618912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/espressorobotics/pseuds/grandaddy-latin
Summary: Warden Nydia Surana escorted Sten back to Seheron following the end of the fifth Blight, and while they do their best to spend their days together, Sten has duties he cannot abandon. Their quiet moments together are few and far between, so Nydia comes to treasure every one.





	Still Moments

**Author's Note:**

> A short unedited thing about two touch-starved idiots going on a hike. Is it romantic? Is it platonic? Who knows? I don't! I just know that love is real and Sten invented it the first time he called my Warden "kadan."

"Sunset or stars?" 

Nydia, confused by the question, turned to face Sten as they walked near silently through the streets of the empty market. It was the end of her eighth day in Seheron with her companion, and Nydia had already become accustomed to their routine - Sten would go to the Arishok, dictate more of his report on the Blight, train with his new unit, then return to Nydia, hidden not far from the barracks to avoid detection. If they were lucky, there would be daylight still, time to tour about the island with Nydia disguised as a viddathari; on the unlucky days, however, they had only moments of time together, as Sten walked back to the barracks and Nydia back to her hiding place. Overall, they were rarely alone together but for these quiet nights, in which Sten usually recounted his day to her and they made simple talk to pass the minutes.

Tonight, however, Sten seemed to have something in mind. He was walking unusually fast - they typically preferred taking their time - and not in the direction of the barracks. And now, this sudden question, to which Nydia had not yet replied. “What do you mean?”

He looked past her for a moment, toward the horizon, where the sun was just beginning its descent. The crimson glow reflecting off the surface of the water was striking, if bittersweet, signaling the coming of curfew and the end of their time together. "Your choice, kadan. Sunset, or stars?"

Nydia took her time to answer, unsure of the purpose of the question. "Stars."

He did not face her, but a small smile made its way to his face. "Then we will not have to hurry. Follow me."

With that, he made a sudden turn - not in the direction of the barracks, but straight into the jungle, pushing effortlessly through the thick weave of slender branches and almost disappearing from Nydia’s sight before her senses returned and she barrelled after him.

Sten kept a brisk pace, despite his affirmation about not needing to hurry. Dappled orange light made its way through the trees to paint warm, glowing patches on his bare back, which Nydia was careful to not let out of her sight as they walked through the thickening jungle. She huffed a little, both at the sudden exertion of a hike and the frustrating lack of explanation from her companion. Patience was a virtue she was attempting to learn from her friend, but it took only a few paces before she gave in and asked the question plaguing her mind.

"Where are we going, exactly?" She half-shouted to make her voice heard through the foliage.

Sten was silent for a moment, and Nydia was considering repeating herself when he answered. 

"Privacy is...a rare thing, here," he said simply, not pausing as he swept through the foliage with familiar grace. “I thought you would like some, for once.”

"You don't say," she grumbled, pushing branches aside only to be hit in the face with several more. "That doesn't answer my question."

His voice did not carry well through the leaves, and Nydia could only just tell that his reply had come in Qunlat - he had been trying in vain to teach her his language these past few days, but damn if she had retained any of it. He had sounded amused, as well, and Nydia decided to swallow her impatience for the moment and focus instead on following the strange path he wove through the trees.

The journey was short but intense, Sten guiding her through the jungle toward the base of one of the smaller volcanoes he had pointed out to her earlier. Nydia recognized the eery black rock that had once been magma as they approached the base of a small cliff facing opposite the beach. Even after scaling it, Sten went on, leading her around to the leeward side of the mountain where trees could grow in sparse patches, providing cover from any prying eyes in the distance.

They soon arrived at a small copse of windblown jungle trees atop this cliff, with a view of the island stretched out below them. Sten gestured to the stone beneath them before laying on it himself, and Nydia followed suit. She was surprised to find it comfortable, the rock smooth and warm where it wasn’t cracked by the trees’ shallow roots or pockmarked by stubborn weeds - and looking up from where she lay was a lovely picture of the darkening sky, framed by the leaves of the surrounding trees.

Sten laid back silently, and Nydia tried her best to hold her tongue, burning with questions and a strange anxiousness in her stomach. It was their first quiet moment alone together in several days, and she was reluctant to ruin it, reminding herself to be patient.

It did not last. Even with the warm rock at her back and the sun’s absence lulling her into relaxation, Nydia fidgeted, scraping her nails on the stone and changing the position of her legs for a few moments before finally breaking the silence.

"This is the only place you can come for privacy?" She asked, watching the sky darken overhead as twilight took hold of the island. "All the way out here?"

Sten shook his head, and Nydia felt the movement - were their shoulders touching? She had hardly noticed their closeness until the skin of his arm, surprisingly warm, had brushed hers. "It is not the only place, but it is the better one."

If Sten cared about the contact, it did not show in his voice. Nydia found herself caring about it much more than expected, and she had to resist the urge to move closer as the rock grew colder and his warmth grew more obvious in contrast.

She fidgeted, but was careful to leave her arm in the same place. "Was this really all you had to show me? All that hiking, and-"

He interrupted with a Qunlat phrase, and Nydia frowned as she tried to remember his teachings. When she couldn't, she hit him on the arm instead, bringing out a laugh from her companion. "You know I don't know what that means."

" _Patience_ , kadan," he translated, chest shaking with gentle laughter. "You asked for stars."

Nydia faced the sky and found it still too light for any stars to make their appearance. She squirmed closer to elbow Sten, who was still laughing at her, and let her arm fall on top of his. "Well, you should translate the rest of that sentence while we wait. You still haven't told me what _kadan_ means."

Nydia turned back to Sten to examine his expression, and he sighed heavily, his gaze remaining on the sky above. "You cannot guess for yourself?"

"I've tried!" Nydia insisted. "But it doesn't help when you give me incorrect translations, you ass."

"I would never."

"The first time you called me kadan, you said it meant 'goat.'"

"How do you know it doesn't?"

"Because that would be stupid. And because you taught me the word for goat yesterday, in the market..." Nydia trailed off and returned her eyes to the sky, checking her memory. "Dathi-something. Nothing like kadan."

"Your intelligence never ceases to amaze, kadan."

Nydia elbowed him again, a bit harder this time, to make up for the smile he had brought to her face. "Tell me what it means, _dathrasi_."

Sten shook his head, but Nydia could feel him shake with suppressed laughter. The warmth of his arm beneath hers was pleasant in the most bizarre way, as was the sight of his smile in the near dark. "I teach you my tongue, and you insult me. Why should I teach you more?"

"Because you've been calling me kadan for - I don't know, months?" Nydia was almost incredulous, thinking of how long they had been this close. "I need to know! Is it a nickname? An insult? Is it just the Qunlat word for Warden?"

"You are a hopeless student," Sten said with another disapproving shake of his head. "Can you truly not guess?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. And for someone who says he doesn't know how to speak without saying anything, you're doing it really, really well."

Sten sighed into the warm twilight air, and seemed to relax slightly - Nydia had hardly noticed the tension in his arm until it was gone, and she became acutely aware of the fact that her hand was brushing the back of his. The sensation sent shivers up her spine, and she wondered, not for the first time, why his touch in particular had this effect on her, and why she so desperately wanted more. She stared straight at Sten, as if what he said next might provide insight, might make clear what they had been tiptoeing around all these months.

After a long pause, he spoke, but the words were barely audible over the the quiet breeze and the various animal chatters that accompanied the jungle at night. Nydia wanted to move closer, not just to hear him better, but something like fear kept her away. "What did you say?"

" _Where the heart lies_ ," he translated simply, finally turning to meet her eyes. Nydia swore that his were _glowing_ , as if all the moonlight had been caught in his gaze, pale and iridescent lavender glinting at her through the warm dark. "Kadan."

Nydia swallowed, trying not to seem as overwhelmed as she felt. She pushed her fingers between Sten's, loosely interlocking their hands in a simple gesture that simultaneously made Nydia incomprehensibly nervous and unerringly calm. Confused as she was by the tumultuous mixture of feelings she had for the person lying next to her, there was at least one thing she was sure of. 

"Kadan," she repeated the word with a nod, unable to tear her gaze away from where her heart lay beside her, even as the the first stars began to appear in the night sky. “Kadan.”


End file.
